Second Brain for Mac and Windows is live · free · last verified 26 Oct 2026 · viability healthy
Second Brain for Mac and Windows
Second Brain gives your AI tools one shared, self-hosted memory across Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor and Devin.
If you bounce between Claude, Codex, Cursor, and ChatGPT and keep re-explaining the same project, this is the most honest fix we've seen: free, MIT licensed, and self-hosted in your own Cloudflare account. The source trail on recalled memories and the project separation are the features that actually make cross-tool recall trustworthy. The catch is setup and a Cloudflare dependency — you're deploying infrastructure, not clicking 'sign up'. Mem0 and agentmemory are the hosted alternatives if you'd rather not run a Worker. Pick Second Brain for data ownership and cross-tool recall.
Verdict generatedVerified 4d ago · liveness 73/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/second-brain-for-mac-and-windows
- Developers running several AI assistants who want one shared context across them
- Privacy-focused users who want memory stored in their own Cloudflare account
- Small teams needing private per-person memory plus a deliberately shared layer
- Knowledge workers who keep re-explaining projects when switching AI tools
- Users who want a fully managed memory service with zero infrastructure setup
- Anyone unwilling to run and maintain their own Cloudflare Worker
- Buyers expecting a paid support contract or vendor SLA
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Skip Second Brain if you want a managed memory service where someone else runs the backend — this one requires you to deploy and maintain a Cloudflare Worker, and it has no native mobile capture app described on the site.
Cloudflare account usage — Workers, storage, and any request volume you push through it are billed by Cloudflare to you, not by the vendor.
Second Brain is free, MIT licensed, and self-hosted, so the software cost is $0 at any team size — including Team Edition, which the vendor says will never carry a paid tier. The budget line that replaces a subscription is your Cloudflare account and the engineering time to run the Worker. Compare against hosted memory layers such as Mem0 or agentmemory, where you pay a subscription but skip the infrastructure work.
In short
Second Brain for Mac and Windows — Second Brain gives your AI tools one shared, self-hosted memory across Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor and Devin. Best for Developers running several AI assistants who want one shared context across them, Privacy-focused users who want memory stored in their own Cloudflare account, Small teams needing private per-person memory plus a deliberately shared layer. Free to use.
What is Second Brain for Mac and Windows?
Second Brain for Mac and Windows — Second Brain gives your AI tools one shared, self-hosted memory across Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor and Devin. Best for Developers running several AI assistants who want one shared context across them, Privacy-focused users who want memory stored in their own Cloudflare account, Small teams needing private per-person memory plus a deliberately shared layer. Free to use.
Second Brain is an open-source, self-hosted memory layer that gives your AI tools one shared context. Instead of re-explaining your project, preferences, and past decisions every time you open a new chat, you save a memory once and recall it from any connected tool. The vendor page shows it running inside Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, Devin, Claude Desktop, and other MCP clients, with notes, ideas, decisions, and email captured alongside. Everything sits in your own Cloudflare account — you deploy the Worker, so you browse, export, or delete your memories yourself, and nothing routes through a vendor cloud. Projects keep work separated, so asking about one client returns only that client's memories, and your AI tools file new notes into the right project for you. A visible source trail attaches each recalled memory back to the tool that saved it. Team Edition runs on the same Worker at no extra charge: each person gets a private layer nobody else can read plus a shared layer that only fills when someone shares deliberately, and admins manage accounts but cannot read private memories. The project is MIT licensed, free to self-host, and supports Mac and Windows. It suits developers and multi-tool AI users who already juggle several assistants and want continuity without handing their context to another SaaS. If you want a zero-setup managed product, this asks more of you than a hosted memory app would.
Key features
- Shared memory across Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, Devin, and other MCP clients
- MCP client support for connecting the AI tools you already use
- Self-hosted in your own Cloudflare account
- Save a memory in one tool and recall it in another
- Project-based memory separation by client, topic, or workstream
- Source attribution showing which tool saved each memory
- Automatic filing of new notes into the right project
- Private per-person memory layer with an opt-in shared layer
- Team Edition running on the same Worker at no extra charge
- Admin account management without access to private memories
- Browse, export, or delete your own memory data
- Capture from notes, ideas, decisions, email, calendar, and Obsidian
- MIT licensed, open-source codebase
- Mac and Windows support
Behind the verdict
Second Brain solves a specific, annoying problem: you pick up a new AI assistant and it knows nothing about the project you've been working on for three weeks. Its answer is a memory layer that sits in your own Cloudflare account and speaks MCP, so Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, Devin, Claude Desktop, and other MCP clients all read from and write to the same store. What's genuinely good here. The data story is the strongest part — memories live in your Cloudflare account rather than a vendor backend, and you can browse, change, export, or delete them yourself. Projects are the second: name the website, the client, the kitchen, and asking about one returns only its memories, with your AI tools filing new notes into the right project for you. The source trail attaches each recalled memory back to the tool that saved it, which matters more than it sounds like it should — in a multi-assistant workflow, knowing whether a decision came from Codex or a Claude Desktop session is how you audit what your tools believe. Team Edition adds a private per-person layer plus an opt-in shared layer at no extra charge, and the vendor states admins manage people but cannot read anyone's private memories. Where it doesn't fit. You are running and maintaining a Cloudflare Worker, and there's no way around that if you want the self-hosted model. The vendor itself positions setup as 'a little setup, a lot less starting over'. Capture surfaces are notes, ideas, decisions, email, calendar, Obsidian, and MCP clients — there is no polished native mobile capture app described on the site, so if you want to dictate a thought on the train and have it land in your memory, that's not the documented flow. Teams that need a vendor SLA or a paid support contract are on the wrong product; this is free MIT software with a GitHub community, not a managed service. The comparison page names Mem0, Unabyss, and agentmemory as peers. Those are the right names to look at if the Cloudflare dependency is a dealbreaker — they trade ownership for someone else running the backend. Second Brain's bet is that developers who already run several AI tools are comfortable running one more piece of infrastructure in exchange for context that never leaves their account.
Limitations
- Second Brain is free and open source, available for Mac and Windows, and is set up in your own Cloudflare account with data stored in your own account rather than the vendor's.
- That ownership is also the main constraint: you are deploying and maintaining a Cloudflare Worker rather than signing up for a managed service.
- The vendor's own framing is 'a little setup, a lot less starting over'.
- Capture is documented through AI clients, Obsidian, email, calendar, and MCP clients — the site does not describe a native mobile capture app.
- Support is the GitHub community rather than a paid contract or vendor SLA.
- The evidence does not detail specific quotas, storage limits, or underlying AI models.
as of 2026-09-27
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Is Second Brain for Mac and Windows still active?
Second Brain for Mac and Windows is live · free · last verified 26 Oct 2026 · viability healthy.
Viability score
How well maintained and how widely used is Second Brain for Mac and Windows? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: October 2026
How we score →What do users say about Second Brain for Mac and Windows?
What people actually say about Second Brain for Mac and Windows — is it worth it?
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
Researched39 mentions across 3 sources (YouTube, Product Hunt, Lemmy) · researched Sep 23, 2026.
Weighted by the 47 posts each of 3 sources contributed.
- +No-terminal, pre-authenticated setup removes the git and CLI barrier that blocked v1 users
- +On-device processing for files, images, and recordings appeals strongly to privacy-conscious knowledge workers
- +MCP support and Cloudflare self-hosting fit developer workflows around Claude Code and Cursor
- +Deep integration with Obsidian, Notion, Google Drive, and Dropbox covers the main note/file stacks
- +Solves the real 're-explaining my project to every new chat' pain users describe vividly
- −Duplicate and contradiction detection is questioned but never demonstrated with a concrete example
- −Memory portability off Cloudflare remains unanswered — real export/lock-in risk
- −No independent reviews, GitHub issues, or third-party benchmarks exist to verify reliability
- −Cloudflare Worker dependency undercuts the pure local-first privacy promise you're paying for
- −Long-context retention behavior (clear vs. preserve) is ambiguous and critical to trust
- • Your own Cloudflare account usage costs (Workers, storage) if you self-host at scale — not covered in the $15
- • No stated enterprise or team pricing — scaling to multiple seats may require a custom deal
How we verified this
Every listed fact about Second Brain for Mac and Windows— pricing, features, links, status — is re-read from the vendor's own pages by our verification pipeline and each change is logged with a date; the last pass ran on 26 Oct 2026. Pages mix model-assisted synthesis with human review; see how we verify.
Verification history
We have re-verified Second Brain for Mac and Windows 8 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — changed setup time, switching in, pricing fit, switching out, who should skip it, our verdict, description, features, use cases, hidden costs, integrations, summary, limitations
- — changed who it suits, description, our verdict, features, integrations, who should skip it, pricing tiers, pricing model, summary, limitations, pricing page
- — changed SSL certificate
- — changed SSL certificate, domain expiry
- — changed SSL certificate
- — changed SSL certificate
Showing the 6 most recent of 8 verification passes.
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
How much does Second Brain for Mac and Windows cost in 2026?
Second Brain for Mac and Windows: Free to use. Pricing last verified 26 Oct 2026.
Plans compared
Every published Second Brain for Mac and Windows tier, its price as the vendor publishes it, who it fits, and what it adds over the tier below. The 12-month cost projection follows.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Source (Self-Hosted) | Free | — | Developers and small teams already comfortable running Cloudflare infrastructure who want shared AI memory without a subscription.Adds: Free entry point: MIT-licensed software at $0, self-hosted in your own Cloudflare account, including Team Edition on the same Worker. |
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Second Brain for Mac and Windows's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
Second Brain is free, MIT licensed, and self-hosted, so the software cost is $0 at any team size — including Team Edition, which the vendor says will never carry a paid tier. The budget line that replaces a subscription is your Cloudflare account and the engineering time to run the Worker. Compare against hosted memory layers such as Mem0 or agentmemory, where you pay a subscription but skip the infrastructure work.
Has Second Brain for Mac and Windows' pricing changed?
No plan price for Second Brain for Mac and Windows has moved since we began logging in Aug 2026; the pricing page is re-read on every verification pass.
Who should pick Second Brain for Mac and Windows?
Pick Second Brain for Mac and Windows if you are Developers running several AI assistants who want one shared context across them, Privacy-focused users who want memory stored in their own Cloudflare account, Small teams needing private per-person memory plus a deliberately shared layer, Knowledge workers who keep re-explaining projects when switching AI tools.
Look elsewhere if you are Users who want a fully managed memory service with zero infrastructure setup, Anyone unwilling to run and maintain their own Cloudflare Worker, Buyers expecting a paid support contract or vendor SLA, Those who want memory handled by a hosted third-party backend.
Skip it if Skip Second Brain if you want a managed memory service where someone else runs the backend — this one requires you to deploy and maintain a Cloudflare Worker, and it has no native mobile capture app described on the site.
GeneratedReal-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Second Brain for Mac and Windows actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You settle a project decision in a Codex session. Days later you open Claude with a new question about the same project and ask where it stands.
Outcome: Claude recalls the saved decision from your own Cloudflare-hosted memory, with the source trail showing it came from Codex, so you don't re-explain the project from scratch.
You create a project per client — the website, the client, the kitchen — and let your AI tools file new notes into whichever project they belong to.
Outcome: Asking about one client returns only that client's memories, so context from a different engagement doesn't leak into the answer.
Everyone connects their own tools to the same Second Brain instance; each person keeps a private layer, and shared items are posted deliberately.
Outcome: Admins manage accounts but cannot read anyone's private memories, while the shared layer carries only what someone chose to share.
Use cases
- Recall a project decision saved in Codex when you open a fresh Claude conversation
- Keep client work separated so asking about one client returns only that client's memories
- Capture notes, ideas, and decisions from Obsidian and email into the same memory store
- Give a small team a private per-person layer plus a deliberately shared layer on one Worker
- Browse, export, or delete your own memory data without asking a vendor
- Stop re-explaining writing preferences and project constraints to each new AI tool
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Second Brain for Mac and Windows — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Budget roughly an afternoon for the first run: you create the Cloudflare account resources, deploy the Worker, and connect your first AI client. Adding further clients after that is quick — the vendor's own guidance is to start with one tool and add more whenever you like. Expect no same-day zero-effort onboarding.
Switching to or from Second Brain for Mac and Windows
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From manual re-explaining to each AI tool: save your project decisions and preferences as memories once, then connect each client over MCP.
- →From a hosted memory app: set up Second Brain in your own Cloudflare account so the same memories live under your control.
- →From Obsidian-only notes: connect Obsidian as a capture source so notes and ideas land in the same memory your AI clients read.
- ↗To a hosted memory layer like Mem0 or agentmemory: export your memories from your Cloudflare account, then load them into the managed service.
- ↗To plain notes: browse and export your memory data from your own Cloudflare account and keep it as files.
Resources & guides
- Documentationthesecondbrain.dev
Docs · Second Brain for Mac and Windows
Full product docs from thesecondbrain.dev
- Guidethesecondbrain.dev
Guides · Second Brain for Mac and Windows
In-depth how-to from thesecondbrain.dev
- Resourcethesecondbrain.dev
How It Works · Second Brain for Mac and Windows
Helpful link from thesecondbrain.dev
- Resourcethesecondbrain.dev
Features · Second Brain for Mac and Windows
Helpful link from thesecondbrain.dev
- Resourcethesecondbrain.dev
Integrations · Second Brain for Mac and Windows
Helpful link from thesecondbrain.dev
Tutorials & Learning
YouTube returned 6 videos for “Second Brain for Mac and Windows”, and we withheld 6: 6 did not mention Second Brain for Mac and Windows. We are showing none, because we could not prove any of them are about Second Brain for Mac and Windows.
Official links
What are the best Second Brain for Mac and Windows alternatives?
The closest alternatives to Second Brain for Mac and Windows we list are Constella, MyMemo AI and OttO. Ranked by direct product-type match, not category overlap.
| Alternative | Pricing | Starts at | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constella | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
| MyMemo AI | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
| OttO | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
Alternatives to Second Brain for Mac and Windows
View all
Tools that pair well with Second Brain for Mac and Windows
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside Second Brain for Mac and Windows, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
Constella
Constella is an infinite-canvas memory layer that auto-links your notes so Claude, ChatGPT and Codex share the same context
MyMemo AI
MyMemo AI turns saved links, PDFs, videos and voice recordings into a searchable second brain you chat with.
OttO
OttO is a local-first MCP memory server and knowledge graph that gives Claude Code and Cursor persistent agent memory.
Second Brain for Mac and Windows vs its closest rival
Second Brain for Mac and Windows's closest head-to-head is with Guesty — If you run a vacation rental business with multiple listings, Guesty's AI-powered automation across 60+ channels is a no-brainer — but its add-on costs and cloud-dependency may sting. Second Brain is the clear winner for individual knowledge workers who want a private, local AI that indexes everything on their Mac/Windows machine. Choose based on your operational domain, not feature overlap. Verdict generated
Head-to-head comparisons
Second Brain For Mac And Windows vs Guesty
If you run a vacation rental business with multiple listings, Guesty's AI-powered automation across 60+ channels is a no-brainer — but its add-on costs and cloud-dependency may sting. Second Brain is the clear winner for individual knowledge workers who want a private, local AI that indexes everything on their Mac/Windows machine. Choose based on your operational domain, not feature overlap.
GeneratedSecond Brain For Mac And Windows vs Poke Interaction Co
Choose Second Brain if you need a privacy-first, on-device memory assistant that indexes your local files and meetings—ideal for knowledge workers who want to search and summarize without cloud dependency. Choose Poke if you want an AI assistant in your messaging apps to manage email, calendar, and tasks, with the option to hand off real-world tasks to a human via Ultra. Poke's recent integration with Cognition and new features like website building make it a broader lifestyle assistant, while Second Brain stays focused on personal knowledge management.
GeneratedSecond Brain For Mac And Windows vs Gem
If you run a mid-to-large recruiting team drowning in point solutions, Gem's AI agents and all-in-one ATS/CRM will streamline sourcing, screening, and scheduling—saving 30-50% in costs. For a solo knowledge worker managing a mountain of local files, Second Brain's on-device AI gives you a private, searchable memory without cloud dependency. Choose the tool that matches your workflow scale and privacy needs.
GeneratedFrequently asked questions
Best-of guides
Topics
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